As any frequently practicing musician can attest to, the world of music and the theory of it can quickly become overwhelming.Robert Deleo, bassist of Stone Temple Pilots, and Larry Carlton, solo jazz guitarist, both refrain from attempting to look past their skill cap by simplifying their playing to the levels they feel can allow for the most natural and clearest expression of their musical ideas.
I specifically remember an interview of Robert during one of his bass clinics in L.A. Robert puts a big emphasis on being humble as a musician, to really be an intimate listener and learner to truly wrap your head around being able to clearly express what you hear from within your own head.
Robert’s whole demeanor and, for lack of a better word, “coolness” really makes his messages about humbleness that much more impactful. He spends much more time relating his influences to your own, leaning more towards actively participating in
The line that really stuck to me was when Robert says, “Be humble in the face of music” which seems to more of a motto that he has lived by. He always follows with the idea that songs must be fulfilling, songs have to be written by a natural process, not by the attempt of a direct copy of your influences.
Out of the thousands of questions I could really ask Robert about music, the most valuable would have to be something related to how you could maintain such persistent humbleness, even with the success of Stone Temple Pilots. As a teenager I can’t help but question the level of humbleness I could even have at such a young age, would it be worth it to give myself a little confidence every once in awhile as to avoid not overdoing a false sense of humbleness.
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